25. Craft Cupboard Stage 2 - Paint!

Big moment - I finally got to slap some paint onto my cupboard. I've been researching what products would be best and I ended up buying Zinsser Odourless Primer. I'm so glad I did! One quick coat covered up the dark stain of the wood and made the job so much easier. In the past I've been too cheap to buy undercoat but it was so worth the $24.00 price tag. And I only used a small amount so it'll be good for future projects.

Once the undercoat was dry it was time to paint.

I chose Taubmans 'Blue Attraction' water based enamel with a satin finish for the job. I wanted a colour that was reminiscent of 1950s pastels and this soft turquoise colour worked perfectly. I was inspired by a piece of fabric that I found on Kelani Fabric called Central Park by Kate Spain.

After one application - pretty good coverage thanks to the undercoat.

Once the whole thing had 2 - 3 coats of paint I left it to dry overnight then sanded back some of the corners and edges to give it a worn distressed look.  I watched loads of YouTube clips on furniture distressing and most of them involved hurling a chain or a pair of pliers to damage the paint. I didn't want my cupboard to look too obviously distressed so I went easy on the sandpaper and just took a wee bit off.

Next up it was time for the stencil. I bought a wildflower stencil book on bookdepository for around $2 a while back.

Painting on the stencil is a job for a perfectionist pedantic type.. so I got my husband to do it!

I wanted the stencils to be a bit faded and worn so after dabbing on the white paint with a brush he dried it with a hair dryer then wiped off some of the paint with a damp cloth.

And here she is....

From this:

To this:

Total costs so far:

Cupboard - Free

Wallpaper samples - Free

Primer undercoat $24.00

Taubmans enamel topcoat $29.95

Leftover white enamel paint - Free

Stencil book $2

Brushes $2.50

Both paints have over 3/4 left so they'll be used for other projects.

Make sure you check back next week for my post on pimping out the inside. I can't wait to put all of the little storage bits and pieces I've been collecting to use.